Slider for slide fasteners



May 13, 1952 Filed Nov. 8, 1950 INVENTOR.

Patented May 13, 1952 UNITED STAT SLIDER FOR SLIDE FASTENERS Ralph E.Meech, Meadville, Pa., assignor to Talon, Inc., a corporationofPennsylvania Application November 8, 1-950, Serial No. 194,608

4 Claims.

This invention relates to slide fasteners, and particularly to animproved slider therefor.

In the operation of slide fasteners, overlying flaps, flimsy materials,or other foreign matter frequently get caught in the fastener and becomejammed in the channel of the slider body between the wing portionsthereof and the fastener elements. Naturally, this is objectionable, andit is to a slider, should such catching "accidentally occur, that thepresent invention relates. The slider of the present invention may bereadily "freedor released for normal operation by manual operation ofthe slider in either direction because of the yi'eldable arrangement ofthe wing portions.

Accordingly, it is one-of the objects of the present invention toprovide-an improved slider which will tend to resist catching ofmaterials therein, and if so caught may be readily released merely bymanipulating the slider in a normal manner in'aclosing-or openingdirection due to the fact that "the wings will automatically flex topermit such materials to be released.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improvednon-catching and readily-releasable slider which is simpleandinexpensive in its construction, and, at the same time, efiective inits use.

It is a furtherobject of this invention to provide such a slider whichis foolproof, requiring no particular skill or knowledge on the part oftheusers capable of operating slide fasteners having conventionalsliders.

Various other objects and advantages of this invention will be moreapparent in the course of the following specification, and will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown for the purpose ofillustration, an embodiment and several modifications thereof which myinvention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1' is a plan view of 'a slide fastener having the improved sliderof m invention incorporated therewith;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the upper end of the improved slider'of thepresent invention;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the lower end of the same;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an end view of a slide fastener, together with my improvedslider, showing how it functions when any foreign material becomesaccidentally caught therein; and

Fig. 6 is a 'view, similar to Fig. 4, of the inner side of a slider wingshowing a slight modification of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1, aconventional type of slide fastener having the improved slider of myinvention incorporated therewith. Such a fastener consists ofcooperating rows of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements 2attached to the opposed beaded edges of stringer tapes 3. There isarranged on the fastener elements, the slider of the present invention,generally designated at l, for longitudinal movement there'along inopposite directions for opening and closing the fastener in a mannerwell known to those skilled in the art.

This slider consists generally of a body member having spaced-apartupper and lower wing portions 5 and 6, respectively, each havingmarginal flanges, as at l, and which are integrally connected at theupper end thereof by means of a substantially V-shaped neck portion 8 soas to provide substantially a Y-shaped channel '9 within the sliderbody. On the outer side of the upper wing, there is provided a lug It towhich a pull member [2 is 'pivotally attached for fmanipulat ing theslider in a well-known manner.

According to the present invention, there is arranged preferably on theinner surface of at least one of the wing portions a plurality oflongitudinally extending channels or grooves which are positioned toeither side of the neck portion and between the same and the flangeportion so as to provide a section in the wing at those points which'isthinner than the remaining portions of the wing so as to provide aflexing point for the other portions for a purpose -to be described. InFigs. 1 through '5 of the drawings, there is shown the preferred form ofmy invention. In this construction, there is arranged on the innersurface of each of the wing portions 5 and 6, alongitudinally extendinggroove or channel l3 which is positioned preferably directly next to thenext to the neck portion and extends throughout the length of the wingportions so as to provide relaother groove or channel l5 may be providedcenslightly when any foreign material becomes caught between the flangesand the fastener elements. This is exemplified in Fig. of the drawingswherein there is shown a flimsy material M caught and jammed in theslider. Due to the construction of my slider, it will be seen that thewing portion directly opposite the material will yield slightly at theflexing point l4 so that the material will not become too tightly jammedin the slider. This material can be easily dislodged from such positionmerely by manipulating the slider in either direction. After thematerial becomes dislodged, the outer portion of thewing will assume itsnormal position in parallelism due to the inherent resilientcharacteristics of the material from which it is made. It will beunderstood that my improved slider may be made from any suitable metalbut is preferably made from a plastic material, such as nylon,'etc.

In Fig. 6, there is shown a slight modification of the slider of myinvention. in this construction, there is arranged to either side of theneck portion 8 of the slider preferably on the inner surface of both ofthe wing portions 5 and 6, a channel or groove I! which extendssubstantially parallel to the diverging channels I8 in the upper end ofthe slider and the side of the neck portion 8. These grooves l'lintersect one another and with another groove or channel 19 at the pointimmediately below the neck portion which groove or channel extends fromthat point longitudinally of the slider to the bottom end of the wings.Thus, in this construction, it will be seen that the outer portion ofthe wings will flex about the thin sections of the slider body ar rangeddirectly opposite the grooves l1 and I9 when any foreign material iscaught between the flanges of the slider.

As a result of my invention, it will be seen that there is provided animproved slider which is so constructed that in the event any foreignmaterials become caught in the slider that they will not become jammedtherein so as to make the fastener inoperable. In other words, there isprovided a slider which is substantially foolproof from the standpointof jamming. Also, it will be seen that there is provided a non-jammingslider which is simple and inexpensive in its construction and, at thesame time, effective in its use.

While I have shown and described an embodiment and several modificationsthereof which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understoodthat this embodiment and the modifications are merely for the purpose ofillustration and description, and that other forms may be devised withinthe scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

.1. A slider for slide fasteners of the class described comprising abody member having spaced-apart wing portions connected by a neckportion at one end thereof, said wing portions having inwardly extendingmarginal flanges so as to provide substantially a Y-shaped channeltherebetween, at least one of said wing portions having a sectionarranged to either side of said neck portion and between the same andeach of said marginal flanges which-is thinner than the remainingportions of said wing so as to provide a flexing point for the outerportions of said wing whereby said outer portion will slightly yieldwhen any foreign materials accidentally become lodged between theflanges and the fastener elements and in the channel of said slider.

2. A slider for slide fasteners of the class described comprising a bodymember having spaced-apart wing portions connected by a neck portion atone end thereof, said wing portions having inwardly extending marginalflanges so as to provide substantially a Y-shaped channel therebetween,at least one of said wing portions having a longitudinally extendinggroove arranged therein to either side of said neck portion and betweenthe same and each of said marginal flangeslso' as to provide a sectionat this point which is thinner than the remaining portions of'said wingwhereby a flexing point at said thinner. section is provided for theflexing of the outer portions of said wing when foreign materialsaccidentally become lodged between the flanges and the fastener elementsand in the channel of said slider.

3. A slider for slide fasteners of the class described, as defined inclaim 2, including another groove arranged centrally of the wing portionwhich extends from the lower end of said wing to substantially the neckportion of the slider.

4. A slider for slide fasterens of the class described comprising a bodymember having spaced-apart wing portions connected by a neck portion atone end thereof, said wing portions having inwardly extending marginalflanges soas to provide substantially a Y-shaped channel therebetween,at least one of said wing portions having a plurality of longitudinallyextending grooves arranged therein between said neck portion and each ofsaid marginal flanges so as to provide a section at these points whichis thinner than the remaining portions of said wing REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the flle of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 880,819 Perry Mar. 3, 1908FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 176,908 Switzerland of 1935 510,062Germany of 1930

